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[batsymbol]

( He remains crouched there for a little longer — watches the way Damian looks around his workspace before he's slowly getting himself up and sighs as he stands. )

If you want a different room, there's a few.

( Jason has one here as well, but. He's hoping the two, should they come across each other at some point, can behave and not cause too much of a problem with one another. )

[brat]

I have lived within the Tower before.

( moreso than the manor; grayson had moved them shortly into his tenure as batman, so damian is significantly more comfortable here than he is there.

fingers wrap around a wrench, and he seems to inspect it for a moment before he looks back to bruce. )

Goliath is here. Are you familiar with him?

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Yeah.

( Damian's friend, not necessarily pet. )

There's a cat here, too. Belonged to the other you. His name's Alfred.

[brat]

Titus the dog, the bovine in the cave, and the larger white, toothy puff of - I believe the man I met called it a poro.

( his nose scrunches, placing the wrench back into it's proper place before he starts digging through papers. don't mind, him, he's just nosy. )

Mother wouldn't be pleased.

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There's nothing wrong with liking animals.

( Hands slip into his pockets as he slowly makes his way over and eyes Damian a bit there with what he's getting himself into. )

[brat]

One of my tutors had left a bat with me, during one of our sessions. I had called it cute. Cute is not a word for a demon.

( there's a notebook, which he picks up to start sifting through. there's nothing in particular he's looking for, he just - likes to know. )

She slaughtered it, and informed me it was my fault for being too slow to stop her, given I had been too preoccupied caught up in my feelings. Feelings make one weak. Attachments to unnecessary creatures does.

( another page turns, and he - pauses for a moment. mulls over his own words. )

I am. . . learning. Adjusting to no longer being a demon. An al Ghul.

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( He's heard similar stories from Damian before and, like before, he doesn't agree with them. So he's quiet for a long moment — lets Damian look over his journal there and licks over his lips then as he gives himself a moment to think. )

There's more to you than you might think. There always will be.

[brat]

I'm aware.

( he says, and drops the notebook down to look for - a computer. there's one around here somewhere, damian knows. )

I am a demon whose skin never fit right, given it had always been disguising something different under the surface. I am not merely an al Ghul nor a Wayne.

[batsymbol]

( His laptop is there but it's locked because, of course it would be. )

You'll figure it out.

[brat]

( rude. but understandable.

damian looks at the locked screen. looks to the passkey and just - idly starts putting in numbers to see if he can get it to open himself. he knows bruce is right there, watching, but there are a few numbers he can try. bruce's birthday. his parents' birthday. the date they died. he's got time on his hands. )

[batsymbol]

( Kiddo, please. )

Are you looking for something?

[brat]

No.

( perhaps the time they died, then. their anniversary. his knowledge of potential passwords bruce would use at this age is extremely minimal, but he can run through them regardless. )

[batsymbol]

Then why are you trying to hack into my laptop?

( Dear child of his? )

[brat]

This isn't hacking. Hacking would be if I took out an external drive with a password program on it to get myself in.

( this is just playing guessing games. )

[batsymbol]

I change the password regularly.

( Because he has snoops around. Or had, anyway. )

[brat]

As one should.

( and, after a short pause where he ultimately decides to give up, )

What is it?

[batsymbol]

( Standing there in silence for a good long moment, he eventually comes up behind Damian there and reaches over him to type in the password. S E L I N A. A password he will be changing after this encounter, yes. But it opens up his laptop and brings up the screen with various files scattered about it. A good amount of them on things concerning Etraya while the others are about his own Gotham and the things he's dealt with there over the past two years. )

[brat]

( damian's nose scrunches up, a face bruce may recognize as the one he makes when something is gross, but he doesn't offer any commentary regarding the password because. gross. he doesn't want to talk about the woman his father is known to trail after, but. ah, well.

the laptop gets picked up, and damian twists around so he can sit himself down atop the work table so he can more efficiently sift through documents. for a boy who had been close to running off, he seems rather settled.

it helps, that bruce both isn't trying to tell him to leave and also isn't preventing him from snooping. it's a show of trust that he doesn't often feel he's given. )

[batsymbol]

( Damian makes himself settled there and Bruce just… watches him. It’s a familiar sight - one he’s missed having around the tower and yet, he doesn’t want to become attached to the familiarity of it. Things are different this time around and he can’t let himself get too attached. So he stands there, looking around the terminal before he goes and fiddles with the utility belt there a bit, adding a few things to it since Damian has himself busy there with the laptop. )

Are you handling things here ok?

[brat]

No. I hate everything.

( despite the words he says it rather - tonelessly. no, he isn't handling things well at all, but it's not as if it's any different than anything else he's gone through back home, so this is fine. )

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( At that, there's a quiet smile he wears as he stares down to the things he gently stocks inside the utility belt. )

Everything, huh?

[brat]

The dog keeps slobbering over everything. Grayson is even more old. There are two Todds, and I despise Todd. So, yes, I hate everything.

( at least he's comfortable up here. and doesn't seem to mind bruce's presence despite his commentary. )

[batsymbol]

Jason has a room here he uses, just as you do.

( He glances over to Damian as he says that. )

I don't expect you to be best friends or anything, but I don't want either of you getting into it with each other here. ( A beat, he straightens up some as he stares to Damian. ) I'm not saying you're going to start anything. I'm just saying that's what I'd like and that I don't want either of you to feel unwelcome here.

[brat]

( i don't want either of you to get into it, bruce says, and damian's mouth opens immediately to protest the accusation that he can read between the lines except bruce - keeps going and damian twists his mouth shut, nose scrunched as his expression shifts to be more petulant than anything else. )

I told Grayson I would let it go for now. However, if he comes at me first, I will retaliate.

[batsymbol]

Fine.

( While he may not exactly condone that, it's also understandable. At that, he looks ahead — mulls over something for a moment. )

Are you planning to stay at the manor?

( He has family there, so. He wouldn't blame him. )